mi 


tti. 


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m^mMM^. 


GIFT  OF 


^cxA/wvAsS.  VV.  ^\ys''A9^y 


THURSDAY  EVENING,  JULY  31,  1845. 


C.  A.  DAVIS, 

E.  M.  BARNUM, 

J.  B.  ALLEN, 

H.  E.  RUGGLES, 

W.  M.  CHAMBERLAIN, 


/-  B.  D.  HARnis; 

.1^  -.  ^  ^     vr     c  ,x    J.-  \    S.  E.  COMINGS, 

Committee  ot  Knbftation,   J  e.  d.  frost, 


Dart.   Collsgs. 


S.  H.  WILLEY, 
J.  W.  ROLLINS. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/earlyannalsofuniOOhatfrich 


THE 


EARLY    ANNALS 


OF 


UNIO^  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


CITY  OF  NEW- YORK. 


By  Rev.  EDWIN   F.   HATFIELD,   D.D. 


NEW-YORK. 
No.  30  Clintojs^  Place. 


1876. 


The  following  Historical  Discoui'se  was  prepared  at  the  request  of 
the  Faculty  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  in  the  city  of  New- York, 
and  delivered,  at  the  Anniversary  of  the  Seminary,  in  the  Madison 
Square  Presbyterian  Church,  on  the  evening  of  Monday,  the  8th  of 
May,  1876.  It  is  now  published  at  the  request  of  the  Board  of 
Directors. 


EARLY  ANNALS. 


"These  forty  years  tlie  Lord  tliy  God  liath  been  with  tliea; 
tliou  hast  lacked  nothing."  To  recall  the  past,  and  mark  the  hand 
of  God  in  onr  varied  experience,  is  both  pleasant  and  profitable. 
The  gracious  dealings  of  the  Father  Almighty  with  ns  and  ours,  as 
seen  in  the  review  of  life,  should  stimulate  us  to  renewed  zeal  and 
effort,  in  our  endeavors  to  promote  and  extend  the  kingdom  of 
the  Divine  Eedeemer.  He,  who,  through  all  their  weary  pil- 
grimage of  forty  years  in  the  Arabian  desert,  had  fed  and  clothed, 
guarded  and  guided  his  people  Israel,  would  surely  be  their  shield 
and  buckler  in  the  dreaded  conflict  with  the  Amorite,  and,  in  due 
season,  put  them  in  secure  possession  of  Canaan,  the  land  of  prom- 
ise.    So  reasoned  Moses,  on  the  borders  of  Edom. 

We  celebrate  to-day  the  Fortieth  Anniversary^'  of  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  the  city  of  ]N^ew-York.  Forty  years  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  science  of  God  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ  are  now  brought 
to  a  close.  It  is  a  fitting  occasion  for  at  least  a  brief  review  of  the 
history  of  this  favored  institution.  As  in  the  case  of  Israel  on  their 
way  to  the  j)romised  land,  that  history  has  been  marked  by  signal 
and  repeated  interpositions  of  Divine  Providence,  and  is  singularly 
illustrative  of  the  special  guardianship  of  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church.  ,  Having,  by  the  good  hand  of  God  upon  us,  attained  to  a 
position  of  influence  among  the  agencies  for  raising  up  and  sending 
forth  a  godly  and  able  ministry,  second  to  none  in  the  land,  it  will 
be  both  entertaining  and  instructive,  to  recall  the  way  in  which  the 
Lord  has  led  us  hitherto,  that  so  we  may  thank  God  as  we  ought, 
and  take  courage  in  the  continued  prosecution  of  the  work  that  is 
given  us  to  do. 

*  The  first  public  anniversary  was  celebrated  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  of 
instruction. 


4  EARLY  ANNALS. 

To  determine  the  patemitj  of  a  great  benevolence — whose 
thought  it  was  that  gave  it  being,  or  that  moulded  it  into  form — is 
not  always  practicable.  The  grand  cathedrals  of  the  Old  World  took 
shape,  mostly,  in  the  brains  of  their  respective  architects,  before  a 
single  stone  was  laid  or  plan  expressed  on  paper.  Most  of  the  great 
charities  that  so  happily  characterize  and  adorn  the  present  age, 
grew  out  of  a  perception,  on  the  part  of  some  devout  and  zealous 
mind,  of  a  special  want,  and  its  appropriate  relief.  A  comparison 
of  views,  it  may  be,  in  respect  to  some  providential  emergency, 
leads  to  something  like  a  simultaneous  thought,  on  the  part  of  several 
j)ersons,  as  to  the  requisite  agency  for  the  occasion.  Such  is  ordi- 
narily the  case  with  our  noble  institutions  of  learning  and  benevo- 
lence. 

The  movement  that  issued  in  the  founding  of  Union  Seminary 
first  took  shape  in  tlie  autumn  of  the  year  1835.  One  of  the  most 
active  originators  of  the  enterprise,  a  venerable  divine,  now  in  the 
seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age,*  says  that  a  fiiendf  called  on  him, 
one  day,  to  advise  with  him  as  to  the  disposal  of  some  funds,  which 
a  bookseller;}:  of  this  city  desired  to  appropriate  to  some  good  object. 
"  Let  him  give  the  sum  towards  the  founding  of  a  Theological 
Seminary  in  Kew-York,"  was  the  reply.  His  friend  remonstrated  ; 
raised  objections  to  the  project,  and  said,  "  It  is  no  place  for  a 
Seminary."  The  matter  w^as  then  argued  at  considerable  length.  It 
was  affirmed  that  a  large  city  was  just  the  place  for  such  an  institu- 
tion, furnishing,  as  it  does,  special  means  of  support  to  the  indigent  in 
the  way  of  teaching,  singing,  and  playing  the  organ  in  churches, 
and  other  remunerative  employment ;  also  of  greater  usefulness  to 
the  young  men  while  pursuing  their  studies,  by  withdrawing  them 
from  cloistered  life,  and  introducing  them,  at  an  early  stage  of  their 
course,  to  missionary  work  among  the  poor  and  degraded  of  a  great 
city,  and  among  ttie  children  and  youth  of  its  many  Sunday-schools 
and  Bible-classes  ;  thus  testing,  in  the  outset,  their  piety  and  fidelity, 
as  well  as  their  general  fitness  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and 
training  them  for  it. 

This  conference  resulted  in  a  consultation,  first  with  the  book- 
seller, and  then  with  a  few  prominent  merchants,  whose  generous 

*  Rev.  William  Patton,D.D.,  of  New-Haven,  Ct. 
t  Rev.  Absalom  Peters,  D.D. 

X  Mr.  Oliver  Halsted,  of  the  firm  of  Halsted  &  VoORHis,  law-booksellers. 
The  funds  were  never  obtained. 


EARLY  ANNALS.  5 

benefactions  had  already  given  them  prominence  in  the  walks  of 
benevolence.  The  project  was  received  with  favor.  A  meeting  of 
a  few  ministers  and  laymen  of  kindred  sympathies  was  informally 
called.  It  was  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  William  M.  IIalsted, 
No.  60  Walker  street.  The  more  the  matter  was  talked  of  and 
thought  of,  the  more  it  seemed  to  be  of  God's  ordering.  At 
length  a  formal  meeting  was  held,  Saturday,  October  10th,  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Knowles  Taylor,  'No.  8  Bond  street.  In  addition 
to  Mr.  Taylor,  eight  other  persons  were  present :  Messrs.  William 
M.  Halsted,  liicHARD  T.  IIaines,  Abu  ah  Fisher,  and  Marcus 
Wilbur  ;  Rev.  Absalom  Peters,  D.D.,  Rev.  Henry  White,  Rev. 
William  Patton,  and  Rev.  Erskine  Mason.  After  a  full  inter- 
change of  views,  it  was  then  and  there  voted  unanimously  "  That 
it  is  expedient,  depending  on  the  blessing  of  God,  to  attempt  to  es- 
tablish a  Theological  Seminary  in  this  city." 

Other  meetings  followed  weekly,  at  the  same  place,  with  a  con- 
tinual enlargement  of  the  circle.*  Inquiries  were  made  as  to  the 
probable  cost  of  the  undertaking,  and  the  means  of  providing  for  it. 
Recent  developments  had  raised  considerable  opposition  to  per- 
manent endowments.  It  was  thought  that  the  establishment  of  the 
Seminary  would  involve  "  an  expense  of  sixty-five  thousand  dollars, 
or  thirteen  thousand  dollars  ^^7^  annum  for  five  years  ;  supporting, 
during  that  period,  all  the  Professors,  and,  at  its  expiration,  leaving 
a  building  and  a  library  free  from  debt."  Thenceforward  it  was 
hoped  that  the  annual  expenditures  would  be  met  by  voluntary 
contributions.  At  their  meeting  of  I^ovember  9th,  a  subscription  was 
called  for,  payable  in  five  annual  installments :  the  first  on  the  first 
day  of  June,  1836,  provided  that  not  less  than  sixty  thousand 
dollars  had  been  subscribed.  The  sum  of  thirty-one  thousand  dollars 
was  then  assumed  by  those  present ;  an  additional  subscription  of 
ten  thousand  dollars  was  reported  at  the  next  meeting ;  and  every 
encouragement  was  given  that  the  whole  sum  would  shortly  be 
secured. 


*  Prominent  among  tlie  additional  attendants  were  tlie  Rev.  Drs.  Thomas 
McAuLEY  and  Thomas  H.  Skinner  ;  the  Rev.  Messrs.  John  C.  Brigham, 
ICHABOD  S.  Spencer,  William  Adams,  Asa  D.  Smith,  Elijah  P.  Barrows, 
Henry  A.  Rowland,  Charles  Hall,  and  Henry  G.  Ludlow  ;  and  Messrs. 
Fisher  Howe,  John  Nitchie,  Lowell  Holbrook,  Jame%  C.  Bliss,  M.D.,  Cor 
nelius  Baker,  Anson  G.  Phelps,  Rufus  L.  Nevins,  Charles  Butler,  Charles 
Starr,  John  L.  Mason,  Norman  White,  Oliver  Wilcox,  and  Alexis  Baker. 


C  EAELY  ANNALS. 

In  a  brief  editorial  notice  of  the  movement,  the  New-Yorh 
Ohserver,  of  E'ovember  14:th,  said :  "  The  gentlemen  connected  with 
this  undertaking,  we  believe,  have  the  confidence  of  the  great  mass 
of  the  Presbyterian  community."  How  came  it  to  pass,  it  may  well 
be  asked,  that  these  "  wealthy  citizens  connected  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church,"  as  they  were  said  to  be,  were  induced  to  identify 
themselves  with  this  enterprise,  to  give  so  freely  of  their  substance 
for  its  establishment  and  support,  and,  without  fee  or  earthly  re- 
ward, to  devote  so  much  of  their  time,  their  influence,  and  their 
energies  to  its  advancement  ?  Not  less  than  six  other  Theological 
Seminaries  had  been  more  or  less  permanently  established  within 
the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church :  at  Princeton,  ]^.  J. ;  at 
Auburn,  N.  Y. ;  at  Allegheny,  Pa. ;  at  Cincinnati,  O. ;  at  Columbia, 
S.  C. ;  and  at  IIam]3den  Sidney,  Ya.  Only  eight  years  before,  a 
±s"ew-York  professorship  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  had  been  sub- 
scribed for  Union  Seminary  in  Yirginia,  chiefly  by  these  very  men. 
Princeton  Seminary,  established  and  sustained  by  the  General  As- 
sembly, some  fifty  miles  only  from  Is^ew-York,  was  sadly  in  need  of 
funds.  For  twenty-three  years  "  its  whole  existence  had  been  a 
constant  course  of  struggle  with  poverty."  At  that  very  date,  a 
special  agent,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  the 
Assembly  of  1835,  was  preparing  to  canvass  the  churches  for  the 
means  to  place  it  on  a  substantial  and  adequate  basis.  Why  did 
these  men  deem  it  desirable  to  attempt  a  seventh  enterprise  ?  Was 
there  not  a  noble  institution  of  the  kind  in  full  operation  at 
Andover,  Mass.  ?  And  one  nearer  at  hand,  connected  with  the  ven- 
erable college  at  New-Haven,  Ct.  1  What  need  was  there  of  a 
Seminary  in  the  commercial  metropolis  ? 

On  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  the  Kev.  John  H.  Rice,  D.D.,  of 
Yirginia,  to  obtain  the  funds  just  alluded  to  for  the  Hampden  Sidney 
Seminary,  this  most  excellent  and  able  divine  found  himself  sub- 
jected to  a  considerable  scrutiny,  both  as  to  his  doctrinal  and  eccle- 
siastical sympathies.  Under  date  of  June  5tli,  1827,  writing  to  Mrs. 
Rice,  he  says  :  "  While  all  the  brethren  appear  to  regard  me  with 
great  personal  affection,  neither  of  the  parties  are  entirely  cordial  to 
me.  The  Princeton  people  apprehend  that  I  am  approximating  to 
Auburn  notions  ;  and  the  zealous  partisans  of  New-England  divinity 
think  me  a  tlioroygh-going  Princetonian.  So  it  is  1  And,  while 
there  is  much  less  of  that  unseemly  bitterness  and  asperity  which 
brought  reproach  on  the  Church  in  past  times,  I  can  see  that  the 


EAELY  ANNALS.  T 

spirit  of  party  has  struck  deeper  than  I  had  ever  supposed.  And  I 
do  fully  expect  that  there  will  be  either  a  strong  effort  to  bring 
Princeton  under  different  management,  or  to  build  up  a  new  Semi- 
nary in  the  vicinity  of  ]S^ew-York,  to  counteract  the-  influence  of 
Princeton.  One  or  the  other  of  these  things  will  assuredly  be  done 
before  long,  unless  the  Lord  interpose  and  turn  the  hearts  of  the 
ministers." 

Ten  days  later  (15th)  he  writes  again,  and  says  :  "  The  people 
here  are  only  waiting  for  me  to  get  out  of  the  way,  to  bring  forward 
other  enterprises.  I  should  not  be  sui-prised  if,  next  year,  we 
should  hear  of  a  Seminary  for  the  vicinity  of  ^ew-York.  I  can  not 
tell  you  all  that  I  have  learned  here  in  a  letter,  but  you  shall  know 
when  I  see  you." 

As  early,  therefore,  as  1827,  possibly  earlier,  it  was  in  contempla- 
tion, and  seriously  talked  of,  to  undertake  the  establishment  of  a 
Theological  Seminary,  to  be  located  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
iNfew-York,  and  to  be  sustained  by  a  portion  of  the  consecrated 
wealth  of  the  great  metropolis.  Growing  dissatisfaction  with  ex- 
isting institutions  of  the  kind,  according  to  the  reliable  testimony  of 
the  judicious  Dr.  Pice,  prompted  the  incipient  thought.  Questions 
theological,  ecclesiastical,  and  partisan  had  already  wrought  conten- 
tions and  divisions  among  the  ministers  and  in  the  churches  of  the 
city.  The  leaven,  that  wrought  so  disastrously  some  ten  years  later, 
was  even  then  at  work. 

From  an  early  period  of  the  century,  and  notably  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  War  of  1812,  a  tide  of  desirable  immigration  had 
been  pouring  into  the  city  of  ]N^ew-York  from  every  part  of  New- 
England  and  the  adjacent  towns  of  New- Jersey.  Full  of  enter- 
prise, many  of  these  new-comers  speedily  established  themselves  in 
lucrative  trade  and  commerce.  Many  of  them  were  the  children  of 
godly  parents,  had  been  early  indoctrinated  in  the  current  theology 
of  the  times,  and  had  become  intelligent  and  active  Christians.  Of 
course  they  identified  themselves  at  once  with  the  church  and  its 
work  in  their  new  home.  Congregationalism  in  the  city  took  form 
not  earlier  than  1819,  and  was  of  the  Unitarian  type.  Conse- 
quently the  new-comers  attached  themselves  mostly  to  Presbyterian 
churches.  So  large  a  portion  of  the  members  of  the  old  Cedar- 
street  Church  (Dr.  Pomeyn's)  were  of  this  character,  as  to  occasion 
its  being  called  "  The  Federal  Church  " — the  prevailing  political 
type  of  the  Eastern  States.     Most  naturally,  diversities  of  views  in 


8  EAflLY  ANNALS. 

doctrine  and  polity,  and  consequent  jealousies,  were  early  developed, 
of  which  the  series  of  essays  known  as  "  The  Triangle,"  by  the 
elder  Wiielpley,  on  the  one  hand,  and  "  The  Contrast,"  by  Ezra 
Stiles  Ely,  on  the  other,  were  the  most  obvious  fruits.  The  friends 
of  missions  and  of  ministerial  education  were  divided  ere  long  into 
rival  factions.  The  patrons  of  ecclesiastical  boards  were  arrayed 
against  the  advocates  of  voluntary  societies  and  co-operative  benevo- 
lence. Such  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  that  party  spirit  the 
exhibition  of  which  had  so  sensibly  affected  Dr.  Rice,  and  led  to  the 
ta  k  about  a  new  Seminary  for  ^New-York. 

These  diversities  of  views  and  operations  were  further  promoted 
by  the  controversy  relative  to  revival  measures,  culminating  in  the 
]N^ew-Lebanon  Conventidh  of  July,  1827;  by  the  fierce  and  bitter 
agitation  of  the  Anti-slavery  and  Colonization  questions ;  by  the 
numerous  pamphlets,  reviews,  and  essays,  in  newspapers,  magazines, 
and  other  publications,  that  presently- flooded  the  Church,  iif  and  out 
of  ISTew-England,  pertaining  to  the  controversy  about  the  so-called 
"  JSTew-Haven  Theology  ;"  by  the  prosecution  for  heresy,  persistently 
urged,  of  such  useful  and  godly  ministers  as  George  Duffield, 
Albert  Barnes,  and  Lyman  Beeciier  ;  by  the  division  of  churches, 
presbyteries,  and  synods  into  rival  and  zealous  partisans  ;  and  by  the 
unseemly  struggles  of  the  Old  and  Is'ew  School  parties,  year  by 
year,  for  the  control  of  the  General  Assembly. 

It  is  perfectly  natural,  and  by.  no  means  surprising,  that,  after 
years  of  contention  and  strife,  so  absorbing  and  so  embittered, 
measures  should  have  been  devised,  and  means  sought,  to  obtain 
deliverance  from  these  unhappy  agitations,  and  a  peaceful  retreat 
from  such  unholy  disturbances.  The  founding  of  a  new  Seminary, 
on  an  independent  basis,  not  subject  to  the  control  of  accidental 
majorities  in  ecclesiastical  bodies,  not  committed  to  any  of  the 
parties  in  the  various  conflicts  by  which  the  churches  of  the  day 
were  distracted  and  likely  to  be  convulsed,  occupying  ground  on 
which  good  and  faithful  men,  of  all  classes  and  parties  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  could  meet  and  act  together  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  and  the  glory  of  the  Divine  Redeemer,  ruled  by  no  ecclesias- 
tical clique,  and  pledged  to  no  faction,  met,  therefore,  with  peculiar 
favor. 

It  is  further  to  be  borne  in  mind  that,  during  the  previous  eight 
or  ten  years,  particularly  in  1831,  a  large  number  of  young  men  had 
connected  themselves  with  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  ISTew-York 


EARLY  ANKALS.  9 

and  Brooklyn,  many  of  whom  were  desirous  of  entering  the  ministry, 
but  were  destitute  of  the  requisite  pecuniary  means.  A  ISTew-York 
Seminary  was  just  what  they  needed.  It  would  tend,  moreover,  to 
arrest  the  tendency,  growing,  in  part,  out  of  the  agitations  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  towards  the  New-England  Seminaries,  and 
save  these  enterprising  youth  for  the  service  of  our  own  churches  at 
home  and  abroad. 

Furthermore,  it  was  believed  that  an  institution  of  this  kind, 
planted  in  the  city  of  New-York,  would  "  enlist  many  young  men 
of  talent,  piety,  and  missionary  zeal,  from  these  two  flourishing 
cities,  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  who"  would  thus  "  have  the 
opportunity  of  adding  to  solid  learning  enlightened  experience,  by 
means  of  the  constant  pastoral  influence  finder  which  they  "  would 
"act,  and  the  performance  of  the  important  duties  of  church  mem- 
bers, in  Sabbath-schools,  Bible-classes,  and  prayer-meetings,  in  the 
several  churches  with  which  they "  might  "  be  connected,  and 
through  their  acquaintance  with  the  benevolent  efforts  of  this  loca- 
tion." 

It  was  with  such  designs,  moved  thereto,  doubtless,  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  that  good  men  and  true,  in  humble  dependence  on  the 
great  Head  of  the  Church,  laid  the  foundations  of  "  the  New- York 
Theological  Seminary,"  as  they  proposed  to  call  it.  The  guiding 
hand  of  Ilim  who  led  Israel  throuojh  the  sea  and  the  desert  was  seen 
also  in  timing  the  enterprise.  The  financial  pressure  of  1834  had 
passed  away.  The  flush  of  1835-6  had  set  in,  and  new  entei-prises 
were  springing  up  on  every  hand.  Speculation  v/as  rife.  The  new 
lands  of  the  West  were  coming  into  the  market.  Fortunes  were 
easily  made  in  the  purchase  and  sale  of  town  lots  in  the  newly- 
projected  villages  and  cities  everywhere  attracting  attention.  The 
friends  of  the  new  Seminary  were  full  of  hope.  They  subscribed 
largely — four  of  them  five  thousand  dollars  each— and  met  with 
good  encouragement  from  others.  Five  sixths  of  the  sum  required 
had  been  subscribed,  when,  on  the  memorable  night  of  the  sixteenth 
of  December,  1835,  a  conflagration  was  kindled,  in  the  providence 
of  God,  that,  within  twenty-four  hours,  laid  the  wealthiest  section 
of  the  city  in  ashes,  consuming  more  than  five  hundred  buildings 
and  seventeen  millions  of  property.  It  was  a  day  of  consternation 
— a  day  of  bankruptcy  to  hundreds,  and  of  sore  privations  to  thou- 
sands, many  of  whom  were  in  affluence  the  day  before.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  darker  days  to  come.     Well  was  it  that  the  enterprise 


10  EARLY  ANNALS. 

had  been  undertaken  so  early  in  the  autumn.  Three  months  later, 
it  would  have  been  out  of  the  question. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  subscribers,  January  11th,  1836,  less  than  a 
month  after  the  great  catastrophe,  it  was  announced  that  a  subscrip- 
tion of  sixty-one  thousand  dollars  had  been  obtained,  and  that  the 
conditional  clause  had  thus  been  fulfilled.  A  constitution,  pre- 
viously and  carefully  prepared,  was  adopted,  a  large  and  highly 
responsible  Board  of  Directors  was  chosen,  and  order  taken  to  pro- 
cure, from  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  an  act  of  incorporation. 
The  Board  met,  for  the  first  time,  on  the  evening  of  Monday, 
January  18th,  1836,  at  the  house  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  in 
Nassau  street,  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  ofiicers  for  the  year,  and 
so  the  organization  of  "  the  j^ew-Yoek  Theological  Semixaey  " 
was  completed. 

Measures  were  taken  at  once  to  procure  a  location,  and  to  erect  a 
suitable  edifice  for  the  Seminary.  A  plot  of  ground,  two  hundred 
feet  square,  between  Sixth  and  Eighth  streets,  extending  from 
Greene  to  Wooster  streets,  four  full  lots  on  each  street,  was  selected. 
It  formed  a  part  of  the  property  of  "  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor," 
which  shortly  before  had  been  located  in  the  old  Kandall  mansion, 
on  Broadway,  above  Ninth  street.  It  was  subject  to  an  annual 
ground  rent  of  eight  hundred  dollars.  The  lease  was  purchased  for 
eight  thousand  dollars.  The  locality  was  well  up  town — quite  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  city.  Population  had  been  spreading  from  what 
was  then  familiarly  known  as  "  Greenwich  Village,"  along  the  Hudson 
Biver,  northward  ;  and,  in  like  manner,  along  the  Third  avenue,  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  city.  A  few  improvements  had  been  made 
along  the  Bloomingdale  Eoad  from  its  junction  with  the  Bowery 
Boad,  at  Seventeenth  street,  to  the  House  of  Refuge,  which  stood  at 
the  starting-point  of  the  old  Boston  Road,  on  the  westerly  side  of 
the  present  Madison  Square,  extending  to  the  present  Broadway, 
and  covering  the  site  of  the  Worth  Monument.  Union  Place,  now 
*'  Union  Square,"  had  just  been  opened,  at  the  forks  of  Broadway 
and  the  Bowery,  but  was  still  unimproved.  Eighth  street  and  a  few 
of  the  parallel  streets  above,  opened  but  a  few  years  before,  were 
beginning  to  exhibit  some  evidences  of  substantial  improvement. 
With  these  exceptions,  vacant  lots,  unpaved  streets,  primitive  roads 
and  lanes,  open  fields  and  country-seats,  many  of  them  highly  culti- 
vated and  of  considerable  extent,  covered  the  island  to  the  north,  as 
far  as  the  ancient  Dutch  village  of  Harlem.    The  New- York  of  that 


EARLY  ANNALS.  ^        11 

day  scarcely  extended  above  Tenth  street,  the  original  terminn^  of 
Broadway.     Beyond  was  the  open  country. 

The  General  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Protestant  Ej^iscopal 
Church,  some  ten  years  before,  had  been  erected  far  out  of  the  city, 
and  near  it,  on  Twentieth  street,  an  Episcopal  chapel  (St.  Peter's), 
of  small  capacity,  had  been  erected  in  1832.  Old  "  St.  Mark's  "  oc- 
cupied its  present  site  on  Tenth  street,  near  the  Second  avenue. 
Two  or  three  mission  stations,  in  advance  of  the  population,  were 
struggling  for  a  foothold  in  the  outlying  districts.  Excepting  tliese, 
not  a  chtirch  edilice  of  any  description  was  to  be  found  on  the 
island,  below  the  villages  of  Bloomingdale  and  Harlem,  above  Tenth 
street.  A  new  Presbyterian  church  had  just  been  erected  in 
Mercer  street,  near  Eighth  street,  wdiich,  for  many  subsequent 
years,  was  the  "  Up-town  Church"  of  the  denomination.  The  stately 
structure  erected  for  the  University  of  the  City  of  !New-York,  on 
the  block  below  the  new  purchase,  had  just  been  occupied  in  part, 
but  was  not  fully  completed.  Wooster  street  had  just  been  extend- 
ed to  Fourteenth  street,  and  the  part  above  the  University  widened 
and  called  "  Jackson  avenue  " — a  name  shortly  after  exchanged  for 
"  University  Place."  The  location  was  deemed  quite  eligible,  near 
enough  to  the  business  portion  of  the  city,  and  sufficiently  remote 
for  a  quiet  literary  retreat. 

A  permanent  corps  of  Instructors  was  now  to  be  secured.  The 
first  choice  of  the  Directors  for  the  Chair  of  Theology  was  the  Rev. 
Justin  Edwaeds,  D.D.,  of  Andover,  Mass. ;  and  for  the.  Chair  of 
Biblical  Literature,  Prof.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander,  of  Prince- 
ton, IS^.  J. — a  happy  commingling  of  the  prevalent  theological 
tendencies  of  the  age.  Both  ajDpointments  w^ere  declined.  Profes- 
sors Extraordinary*  were  appointed  from  among  the  ministerial 
members  of  the  Board.  On  the  last  day  of  September,  the  Rev. 
Henry  White,  the  pastor  of  the  Allen-street  Presbyterian  Church 
of  this  city,  was  appointed  to,  and  soon  after  accepted,  the  Chair 
of  Theology.  The  Rev.  Thomas  McAuley,  D.D.,  the  pastor  of 
the  Murray-street  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  first  President  of 
the  Board,  was  chosen  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology  and  Church 
Government,  with  the  position  of  President  of  the  institution.  The 
Rev.  Prof.  George  Howe,  of  Columbia,  S.  C,  was  also  chosen  to 

*  Rev.  Drs.  Thomas  McAuley  and  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  and  Rev.  Messrs. 
ICHABOD  A.  Spencer,  Erskine  Mason,  and  Henry  White. 


12  earCy  annals. 

tlie  jCliair  of  Biblical  Literature.  Dr.  McAuley  accepted,  but  Prof. 
Howe  declined.  Tlie  services  of  two  regular  Professors,  and  of 
several  Professors  Extraordinary,  having  thus  been  secured,  the 
Recorder  was  authorized,  iSTovember  24th,  1836,  to  announce,  in  the 
public  prints,  that  the  Seminary  would  be  opened  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  December  following. 

Promptly,  therefore,  oh  the  5th  day  of  December  thirteen  young 
men  presented  themselves  at  the  house  of  the  President,  IS^o.  112 
Leonard  street,  and  were  duly  enrolled  as  theological  students.  A 
fortnight  later.  Prof.  Edward  Pobinson,  D.D.,  late  of  Andover, 
Mass.,  was  chosen  to  the  Chair  of  Biblical  Literature.  At  the  end 
of  a  month  he  accepted,  and  entered  upon  his  work.  Ten  additional 
students  were  enrolled  during  the  first  year. 

The  new  Seminary  had  thus  far  acquired  no  "  local  habitation." 
The  plans  for  the  building  had  not  yet  been  completed.  The  neces- 
sities of  the  case  made  the  institution  somewhat  "  peripatetic." 
N^ow  the  young  gentlemen  are  seen  wending  their  way  to  the  house 
of  the  President  in  Leonard  street ;  the  day  following  they  have 
gathered  at  the  residence  of  Prof.  White,  'No.  80  Eldridge  street ; 
the  third  day  finds  them  at  the  rooms  of  the  Presbyterian  Educa- 
tion Society,  Ko.  116  ISTassau  street,  drinking  in  the  erudition  of 
Prof.  Robinson  ;  or,  in  the  absence  of  the  latter,  profiting  by  the 
genial  instructions  of  the  scholarly  George  Bush,  at  his  study,  No. 
115  I^assau  street ;  and  again  they  are  to  be  found  gathered  about 
the  polished  and  enthusiastic  Skinner,  in  his  quiet  retreat  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Mercer-street  Church.  No  dormitories  having  yet 
been  provided,  the  students  came  from  every  quarter  of  the  city,  as 
far  away  as  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Institution  on  Fiftieth  street,  and 
some  from  the  other  side  of  the  river. 

The  plans  having  at  length  been  completed  and  approved,  con- 
tracts were  made  for  the  erection  of  a  seminary  building  on  Uni- 
versity Place,  and  of  four  Professors'  houses  in  the  rear,  on  Greene 
street.  Early  in  March,  183T,  the  work  was  fairly  begun,  but  with 
utterly  inadequate  resources.  The  original  subscription  had  reached 
nearly  seventy  thousand  dollars ;  but  the  first  installment,  payable 
June  1st,  1836,  had  yielded  scarcely  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars, 
four  fifths  of  which  had  been  required  for  the  purchase  of  the  lease  ; 
the  ground  rent  and  assessments  absorbed  nearly  three  fourths  of 
the  small  remainder,  leaving  almost  no  provision  for  the  payment  of 
the  salaries  of  the  three  Professors,  the  purchase  of  books,  and'other 


EARLY  ANNALS.  13 

current  expenses.  The  great  fire  had  crippled  quite  a  number  of 
the  patrons  of  tlie  Seminary,  and  the  prospects  for  the  second  install- 
ment, in  June,  1837,  were  anything  but  promising.  Whence  were 
the  funds  for  building  purposes  to  be  derived  ?  Only  from  loans. 
Further  subscrij)tions,  to  any  considerable  extent,  were  out  of  the 
question. 

The  times  were  now  adverse,  in  the  extreme,  for  new  enterprises. 
Mr.  Yan  Buren  had  just  succeeded  to  the  Presidency.  The  exciting 
era  of  land  speculations  had  come  to  an  end.  The  commonwealth 
of  trade  and  commerce  had  lost  confidence  in  the  policy  of  the  gen- 
eral government.  Credit  was  destroyed.  Trade  was  prostrate. 
The  great  manufactories  were  suspended.  The  demand  for  labor 
ceased.  An  era  of  bankruptcy  set  in.  Merchants  and  bankers,  after 
a  while,  yielded  to  the  storm.  House  after  house  went  down  into 
hopeless  ruin.  A  tremendous  panic  ensued.  The  land  was  con- 
vulsed. Every  bank  in  the  city  of  ^N^ew-York  on  the  lOtli  of  May, 
and  immediately  after  every  bank  in  the  land,  suspended  specie 
payment.  It  was  no  time  to  borrow — no  time  to  build.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  the  Directors  of  the  Seminary  resolved,  April 
26th,  1837,  "  to  suspend  the  erection  of  the  buildings  until  they  shall 
possess  the  means  which  will  encourage  them  to  resume  the  task," 

As  if  to  add  to  the  distractions  of  the  times  and  the  embarrass- 
ments of  the  Board,  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  at  its 
meeting,  in  May,  at  Philadelphia,  was  led  into  heated  and  angry  dis- 
cussions, and  convulsed  with  party  strife.  The  excision  of  a  portion 
of  its  constituency  scattered  the  brands  of  discord  all  over  the 
land,  kindling  the  flames  of  contention  throughout  the  denomination. 
The  Church  was  rent  in  twain,  and  thenceforth  became  two  bands, 
with  small  hope  of  reconciliation.  The  friends  and  founders  of  the 
Seminary,  greatly  to  their  grief,  found  themselves  unwittingly  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  dividing  line,  yet  unwilling  to  identify  them- 
selves, or  the  enterprise  in  which  they  were  embarked,  with  either 
of  the  opposing  parties.  It  was  a  year  of  deep  discouragement,  and 
passed  away  with  but  little  relief.  The  second  installment  of  the 
subscription  had  produced  less  than  eight  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
prospects  for  the  following  year  were  even  less  hopeful.  From  two 
of  the  warm  friends  of  the  Seminary,  however,  at  the  close  of  the 
year,  loans  amounting  to  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars,  secured  by 
mortgage  on  the  grounds  and  pros]Dective  buildings,  were  obtained, 
and  the  work  of  construction  resumed.     The  second  vear  of  in- 


14  EARLY  ANNALS. 

struction  had  commenoed,   and  thirty  new  students  had  been  en- 
rolled. 

Thus  far  very  little  had  been,  or  could  have  been,  done  in  the  way 
of  securing  that  indispensable  acquisition,  a  Theological  Library. 
An  empty  treasury,  and  heavy  indebtedness  for  stone  and  mortar, 
gave  small  promise  for  the  desired  attainment.  A  kind  Providence, 
long  years  before,  however,  had  anticipated  this  very  want.  One 
result  of  the  bloody  conflicts  that  desolated  the  fairest  portions  of 
Europe,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  particularly  of 
the  Peace  of  Luneville,  February  9th,  1801,  was  the  secularization  of 
the  territories  of  the  prelates,  and  the  sequestration  of  the  property 
of  religious  houses,  in  Germany,  taking  effect  early  in  1803.  Among 
the  sufferers  by  this  spoliation  was  the  Benedictine  Monastery  of 
St.  Mary,  at  Paderborn.  Anticipating  this  event,  the  fraternity 
appropriated,  individually,  so  much  of  the  common  property  as 
could  be  divided  among  them.  The  monastic  library  had  been  the 
growth  of  centuries.  At  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  a  collection 
had  been  made  of  the  controversial  literature  of  the  period,  mostly 
in  the  original  editions.  Some  six  hundred  works  of  this  descrip- 
tion, large  and  small,  had  thus  found  their  way  into  a  small  apart- 
ment, the  door  of  which  w^as  marked  with  the  w^ords  "  Lihri 
Prohihiti^^  of  which  the  key  was  kept  by  a  monk  whose  family 
name  w^as  Leandek  Yan  Ess.  This  collection,  with  other  volmnes, 
fell  to  the  share  of  this  trusted  brother,  then  about  thirty  years  of 
age.  I^ot  long  afterwards  he  became  the  Poman  Catholic  Professor 
of  Divinity  in  the  ancient  University  of  Marburg.  An  ardent  thirst 
for  learning  had  characterized  him  from  boyhood.  To  the  study  of 
the  original  Scriptures  he  gave  himself  with  intense  interest.  lie 
was  thereby  led,  through  divine  grace,  into  the  liberty  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God.  He  became  a  devout  and  devoted  follower  of  the 
Lamb  of  God.  Full  of  his  new-found  joy,  he  longed  to  impart  of 
his  spiritual  wealth  to  his  countrymen.  He  set  himself,  therefore,  to 
make  a  careful  and  accurate  version  of  the  Bible,  particularly  of  the 
New  Testament,  into  the  vernacular.  He  gathered  Bibles,  poly- 
glots, lexicons,  concordances,  commentaries,  the  Latin  and  Greek 
Fathers,  the  decrees  of  councils  and  popes,  church  histories,  and 
other  similar  literary  treasures,  including  a  large  collection  of 
Iiicunabitla,  the  rare  issues  of  the  earliest  period  of  the  art  of 
printing, — in  all,  with  what  he  had  saved  from  the  wreck  at  Pader- 
born (more  than  13,000  volumes),  about  6000  separate  works.  He 
translated  the  IS^ew  Testament  into  German,  published  it  in  1810, 


EARLY  ANNALS.  15 

and,  by  the  aid  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  pnt  into 
circulation,  principally  among  the  Eoman  Catholics  of  Grermany, 
with  the  happiest  spiritual  results,  523,000  copies  of  the  I^ew 
Testament  and  more  than  10,000  Bibles.  Grown  old  and  infirm,  he 
retired  at  length  from  the  University  of  Marburg  to  the  quiet  little 
town  of  Alzey,  in  Hesse-Darmstadt,  west  of  the  Rhine,  about  equi- 
distant from  Mayence  and  Worms,  and  offered  his  great  library 
for  sale,  for  11,000  florins. 

Prof.  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  just  returned  from  Europe,  was  advised 
of  the  fact.  In  a  letter  from  Lane  Seminary  to  Dr.  Bobixson,  April 
3d,  1837,  he  advised  the  purchase  of  this  unique  collection  by  the 
New- York  Seminaiy.  Terrible  as  were  the  times,  Dr.  Bobinsox,  on 
his  departure  for  Europe  and  the  Holy  Land,  in  July,  was  mstructed 
to  obtain  the  refusal  of  the  Collection.  After  a  careful  examination 
of  the  books  by  Mr.  Philipp  Wolff,  of  Erlangen  University  (a 
brother  of  Mrs.  Gordon  Buck,  of  this  city),  the  purchase  was 
effected  in  April,  1838,  for  10,000  florins.  It  had  cost  Dr.  Yan  Ess 
50,000  florins.  Its  whole  cost  to  the  Seminary,  when  it  arrived  in 
October,  all  charges  paid,  was  $5070.08.  It  was  received  just  in 
time  to  find  its  way  into  the  alcoves  of  the  library  room  of  the  new 
building.  It  has  served  as  an  invaluable  nucleus  around  which  to 
cluster  the  needful  volumes  of  the  more  modern  press.  It  is  a  trea- 
sure, rare  and  peculiar,  whose  riches  have  as  yet  been  but  partially 
explored.     If  lost,  it  could  not  possibly  be  replaced. 

The  second  year  of  instruction  had  closed  with  an  enrollment  of 
fifty-six  students.  The  first  senior  class,  six  in  number,  had  gradu- 
ated July  11th,  1838,  with  appropriate  exercises  in  the  Allen-street 
church.  The  third  year  had  opened  with  a  large  accession.  The 
Catalogue,  now  for  the  first  time  printed,  presented  a  total  of 
ninety-two  students,  thirty-two  of  them  juniors.  The  new  Seminary 
building  was  dedicated,with  appropriate  ceremonies,  December  12th, 
1838.  Three  years  had  now  elapsed  since  the  incipient  movement. 
A  "  local  habitation"  had  been  secured  ;  a  large  and  rare  library  had 
been  provided ;  a  full  and  able  Faculty  inducted  ;  and  a  position 
attained  among  the  first  three  Seminaries  of  the  land — Andover 
and  Princeton  alone  ranking  it,  and  the  latter  by  six  only  in  the 
regular  classes.  The  enterprise  had  proved  a  marked  success.  It 
was  no  longer  an  experiment. 

An  Act  of  Incorporation  '^  was  obtained,  March  27th,  1839,  from 

*  Appendix  A. 


16  EARLY  ANNALS. 

the  Legislature  of  tlie  State,  the  name  "  Union"  having  been  given 
it  at  Albany,  to  distinguish  it,  probably,  from  the  Episcopal  Semi- 
nary on  Twentieth  street — a  name  not  desired,  much  less  chosen,  by 
the  Board,  but  prophetic  of  the  position  that  the  Institution  has 
ever  since  maintained. 

It  now  became  evident  to  the  Board  that  the  original  projectors 
of  the  Seminary  had  counted  w^ithout  their  host.  IS'ot  more  than 
fifty  thousand  dollars  of  the  original  subscription  had  proved  avail- 
able ;  and  more  than  this  amount  had  already  been  expended  at  the 
end  of  the  third  year  of  instruction.  To  obtain  the  greater  part  of 
this  sum,  the  buildings,  and  even  "  the  Yan  Ess  Library,"  had  been 
mortgaged.  The  last  installment  of  the  subscription  would  scarcely 
avail  to  meet  the  current  expenses.  Xo  provision  had  been  made 
for  the  years  beyond. 

"What  was  to  be  done  ?  The  thought  of  failure  w^as  not  to  be 
entertained  for  a  moment.  The  promise  of  good  was  too  pro- 
nounced to  be  at  all  problematical.  The  experiment  had  show^n 
that  ]^ew-York  was  just  the  place  for  a  Theological  Seminary. 
Young  men  of  piety,  talents,  and  culture  had  resorted  hither  for  a 
ministerial  education,  not  only  from .  ]^ew-York  and  Brooklyn,  but 
from  every  part  of  the  United  States.  Personal  expenses,  it  had 
been  found,  were  no  greater  than  elsewhere  ;  while  the  means 
of  self-support  and  usefulness  were  much  superior.  To  place  the 
enterprise  on  a  finn  foundation  was  worthy  of  an  arduous  effort 
and  great  sacrifices.  It  was  determined  to  make  an  appeal  to  the 
churches.  A  Financial  Agent"^  was  appointed.  Fifty-five  new 
students  had  entered  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  year,  the  most 
of  whom  could  find  no  accommodations  in  the  new  building,  fully 
occupied  as  it  was  by  the  two  previous  classes.  Lodgings,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Board,  had  to  be  provided  elsewhere.  The  Catalogue 
for  the  new  year  showed  a  total  of  129  students  in  attendance. 
Greatly  encouraged,  the  Directors  called  together  such  of  the  pastors 
of  the  city  and  vicinity  as  sympathized  with  the  movement.  In- 
vited thus  to  share  the  responsibility,  these  pastors  resolved  to  oj)en 
their  pulpits  to  the  Financial  Agent,  and  to  afford  him  all  the  aid 
in  their  power  in  his  solicitations  for  funds. 

In  the  course  of  the  w^inter  an  attempt  was  made  to  raise  the 


*  Rev.  Gideon  N.  Judd  D.D.,  of  Bloomfield,  N.  J.,  and  subsequently  of  Cats- 
kill,  N.  Y. 


EAULY  ANNALS.  17 

sum  of  $50,000,  but  nothing  came  of  it.  In  February,  1840,  the 
Treasurer  had  advanced,  o\^er  and  above  the  loans,  more  than 
$16,000,  although  one  of  the  four  houses  had  been  sold  for  $8500. 
Every  expedient  had  been  exhausted,  and  no  provision  had  been 
made,  or  apparently  could  be  made,  for  the  payment  of  the  Profes- 
sors' salaries  and  other  current  expenses.  The  prospects  were  ex- 
ceedingly dark.  To  carry  forward  the  enterprise,  in  circumstances 
so  adverse,  was  indeed  a  "  work  of  faith  and  labor  of  love," 
demanding  great  "  patience  of  hope  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  It 
was  determined  to  make  still  more  strenuous  efforts ;  and,  at  the 
close  of  the  year.  May,  1840,  the  work  of  solicitation  having  been 
more  vigorously  pressed,  it  was  found  that  a  sufficient  sum  had  been 
raised  by  subscription  to  justify  the  Board  "  in  continuing  the 
Seminary  in  operation  for  the  ensuing  year."  I^one  but  the  Board 
knew  how  precarious  an  existence  was  at  that  date  accorded  to  the 
Seminary,  overflowing  though  it  was  with  students.  The  salaries  of 
the  Professors  for  two  years  had  been  mostly  unpaid,  apd  the  incum- 
bents subjected  to  severe  trials.  One  of  them  at  least,  the  Professor 
of  Theology,  was  compelled  to  borrow  nearly  a  year's  salary,  then 
to  convert  his  home  into  a  boarding-house,  to  become  the  stated 
supply  of  a  pulpit,  and,  at  length,  to  enter  upon  a  voluntary  agency 
for  the  solicitation  of  means  to  pay  his  very  moderate  salary.  All 
honor  to  the  men  that  endured  such  tribulations  to  perpetuate  the 
work  so  auspiciously  begun,  in  the  founding  of  Union  Seminary ! 
Late  in  the  year  a  strenuous  effort  was  made  to  retrieve  the  original 
error.  A  Permanent  Fund  was  imperatively  demanded.  A  large 
floating  debt  had  been  incurred.  To  meet  these  demands,  a  subscrip- 
tion, payable  on  the  attainment  of  pledges  to  the  amount  of  $140,000, 
was  opened.  One  subscription  of  $25,000,  two  of  $12,500  each, 
eleven  of  $1000  each,  and  others  amounting  in  all  to  $90,000,  were 
obtained,  but  nothing  more  could  be  had,  and  the  whole  was  lost. 

Still  they  pressed  on — those  men  of  faith  and  prayer.  Collections 
were  made  in  an  increasing  number  of  churches  annually.  Agents 
were  sent  through  the  country,  soliciting  funds,  in  gifts  of  one  dollar 
and  upwards,  from  the  people  at  their  homes,  in  their  warehouses 
and  workshops,*  on  their  farms  and  in  their  factories,  to  meet 
current  expenses.  Thus  the  struggle  for  life  was  kept  up  during  the 
next  two  or  three  years.  The  project  of  sustaining  the  Seminary  by 
annual  contributions  was  effectually  tried,  and  found  to  be  utterly  un- 
reliable.    It  now  became  evident  that  the  entei*prise  must  be  aban- 


18  EARLY  ANiSALS. 

dohed,  unless  some  permanent  provision  was  made  for  the  support 
of  the  Professors.  Their  services  were  sought  elsewhere,  and  they 
seriously  thought  of  resigning  their  positions.  One  of  them  resigned 
conditionally.  A  public  meeting  was  called  in  September,  1843, 
and  an  appeal  was  made  for  the  sum  of  $25,000,  to  endow  the  Pro- 
fessorship of  Theology.  The  appeal  was  sustained,  and  the  first 
Permanent  Fund  subscribed.  To  secure  the  payment  of  these 
subscriptions,  to  pay  off  a  floating  debt  of  nearly  $20,000,  and  to 
meet  current  expenses,  required  diligent  and  laborious  exertions  for 
the  next  three  years.  Dr.  McAuley  had  retired  from  the  Faculty 
in  1840,  and  the  Pev.  Joel  Parker,  D.D.,  had  succeeded  him  as 
President,  and  served  as  Financial  Agent,  retiring  in  1842.  The 
Pev.  Absalom  Peters,  D.D.,  had  in  1842  been  elected  Professor  of 
Pastoral  Theology,  and,  without  entering  on  the  duties  of  the  pro- 
fessorship, had  served  as  Financial  Agent  about  one  year,  when  he, 
too,  retired,  leaving  only  Professors  White  and  Pobinson  in  the 
Faculty.  Partial  provision,  through  the  beneficence  of  a  personal 
friendj^*  had  been  made  for  the  support  of  the  Professor  of  Biblical 
Literature.  A  generous  proposal,  on  the  part  of  several  residents  of 
Brooklyn,  to  contribute  ample  grounds,  and  to  build  thereon  a  semi- 
nary edifice  and  three  dwelling-houses  for  the  Professors,  made  early 
in  the  year  1844,  had,  after  mature  consideration,  been  gratefully 
declined.  Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  at  the  close  of  the  first 
ten  years  of  instruction. 

A  special  providence,  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  ten  yeai's, 
contributing  materially  to  the  relief  of  the  Seminary,  should  not  be 
overlooked.  A  grandson  of  an  eminent  citizen,f  connected  with  one  of 
our  Presbyterian  churches,  had  been  carefully  trained  for  the  priest- 
hood of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  duly  ordained.  Having  served  in 
the  ministry,  first  at  Harlem,  N.  Y.,  and  then  at  Hagerstown,  Md.,  he 
became  so  thorough  a  Pitualist  that  nothing  would  content  him  but 
the  Papacy,  which  presently  he  espoused.  After  a  brief  novitiate 
at  St.  Sulpice,  in  Paris,  he  was  ordained,  in  1842,  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  priesthood  by  the  late  Archbishop  Hughes,  whose  secretary 
he  became  in  1846.  Shortly  after  this  latter  date  his  venerable 
grandfather  died,  and  it  was  found  that,  in  consequence  of  this 
change  of  faith,  the  inheritance,  valued  at  about  $30,000,  originally 


*  Mr.  James  Boorman,  of  New- York  City.        f  Mr.  James  Roosevelt. 


EARLY  ANNALS.  10 

designed  for  the  grandson,  had  been  devised  to  ^'  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  in  the  city  of  J^ew-York."  This  bequest  was  contested, 
successfully  at  first ;  but  the  provisions  of  the  will  were  finally  sus- 
tained by  the  Court  of  Appeals.  The  contestant  is  now  the  Eoman 
Catholic  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,*  and  his  forfeited  patrimony  has 
done  excellent  service  in  sustaining  this  Protestant  Seminary. 

The  day  had  now  fairly  dawned.  A  gracious  Providence  had 
kindly  interposed,  and  rescued  the  enterprise  from  impending  bank- 
ruptcy. Early  in  1848  the  Pev.  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.D.,  of 
precious  memory,  a  devoted  friend  and  patron  of  the  Seminary  from 
the  beginning,  was  chosen,  to  the  newly-created  Professorship  of 
Sacred  Phetoric,  Pastoral  Theology,  and  Church  Government, — a 
position  for  which  he  was  pre-eminently  fitted, — and  permanent  pro- 
vision was  made,  by  a  few  personal  friends,  for  his  support. 

The  Professorship  of  Theology  was  made  vacant  in  August,  1850, 
by  the  decease  of  Professor  IIenky  White,  in  the  full  maturity  of 
his  powers — greatly  to  the  grief  of  the  Board  and  Faculty.  The 
Pev.  Henky  B.  Smith,  a  Professor  in  Amherst  College,  Mass., 
entered,  in  December,  1850,  upon  the  duties  of  the  Professorship  of 
Ecclesiastical  History,  to  v/hicli  he  had  been  elected  in  July.  To 
the  Chair  of  Theology  the  Pev.  James  P.  Wilson,  D.D.,  of  Phila- 
delphia, succeeded  in  May  of  the  following  year. 

The  time  had  now  come  for  enlargement.  The  annual  expenses 
of  the  institution  were  about  $12,000.  Its  annual  income,  from  the 
legacy  of  Mr.  Poosevelt,  from  individual  subscriptions,  and  from 
all  other  sources,  was  only  about  $5000.  An  annual  deficiency  of 
$7000  had  to  be  supplied  by  voluntary  contributions.  In  February, 
1852,  it  was  determined  to  attempt  the  obtaining  of  an  additional 
investment  of  $150,000,  subscriptions  to  be  binding  on  the  first 
of  May,  1853,  if  at  that  time  $100,000  should  have  been  pledged. 
A  few  members  of  the  Board,  at  a  meeting  in  March,  1852,  pledged 
themselves  for  $42,367  of  the  sum,  the  services  of  the  liev.  Joseph 
S.  Gallagher,  of  Bloomfield,  ]^.  J.,  were  happily  obtained  for  the 
agency,  and  the  requisite  $100,000  secured  witliin  the  specified 
period.  The  further  prosecution  of  the  endowment  effort  was  prov- 
identially postponed  to  a  more  favorable  season. 

From  the  first  it  had  been  evident  that  the  accommodations  for 
students  were  entirely  inadequate.    A  fourth  story  and  an  attic  story, 

*  Most  Rev.  James  R.  Bayley,  D,D. 


20  EARLY  ANNAL?. 

therefore,  were  added  to  the  original  building,  in  the  summer  of 
1852,  at  an  expense  of  $12,524,  for  the  payment  of  which,  in  part, 
the  building  was  mortgaged  for  $10,500.  Provision  was  thus  made 
for  forty-eight  additional  students,  the  new  rooms  having  been  gra- 
tuitously furnished,  at  an  expense  of  $2000,  by  that  genuine  servant 
of  Christ  and  most  devoted  friend  of  the  Seminary,  the  late  la- 
mented Anson  G.  Phelps,  Jr. 

The  Chair  of  Theology  was  again  made  vacant  by  the  resignation, 
in  October,  1853,  of  Prof.  James  P.  Wilson.  Prof.  SMrni  was 
transferred  to  the  vacant  Professorship,  in  March,  1854.  The  funds 
were  further  enlarged,  in  1854,  by  a  legacy,  received  from  the  estate 
of  Mary  Fassitt,  deceased,  of  Philadelphia,  amounting  eventually  to 
about  $20,000  ;  and  by  a  subscription,  in  1855,  of  $25,000,  by  a  lady 
of  this  city,'^'  to  found  the  Professorship  of  Ecclesiastical  History. 
The  Pev.  Poswell  D.  Hitchcock,  a  Professor  in  Bowdoin  College, 
was  chosen  to  the  vacant  chair  in  July,  1855,  and  entered  upon  its 
duties  at  the  commencement  of  the  next  term.  The  second  period 
of  ten  years  closed  under  the  happiest  auspices.  The  days  of 
doubt  and  perplexity  had  passed.  The  question  of  a  permanent 
existence  had  been  solved.  Progress  had  been  made,  with  good 
promise  for  the  future,  towards  a  complete  endowment  of  the  Pro- 
fessorships. The  Seminary  had  secured  a  full  and  able  Faculty,  and 
now  occupied  a  position  of  influence,  second  to  no  similar  institution 
of  the  kind  in  the  whole  land.  Great  as  had  been  the  effort,  the 
struggle,  and  the  sacrifices  of  the  founders,  they  were  amply  repaid. 
Much  remained  to  be  accomplished,  a  far  greater  amount  of  funds 
was  still  needed  ;  but  the  past  success  fully  warranted  the  assurance 
of  better  days  to  come. 

The  early  story  has  now  been  told.  A  brief  glance  at  the  salient 
points  of  the  later  story  must  suffice.  The  subscription  begun  in 
1852,  and  suspended  the  following  year  because  of  financial  pres- 
sure resulting  in  the  wide-spread  bankruptcy  of  185T,  was,  in  1859, 
resumed,  and  increased  to  $200,000.  Hitherto  the  pecuniary  affairs 
of  the  institution  had  necessarily  been  administered  on  principles  of 
the  most  rigid  economy,  almost  approximating  to  parsimony.  The 
burden  of  heavy  indebtedness,  incurred  by  the  erection  of  buildings, 
and  the  meagre  provision  for  current  expenses,  had  kept  the  corps  of 


*  Mrs.  Jacob  Bell.     The  chair  was  named  for  her  deceased  brother,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Washburn,  of  Baltimore,  Md. 


EARLY  ANNALS.  21 

instruction  and  the  salaries  of  the  Professors  inadequately  small,  with 
but  little  prospect  of  advancement.  And  now  the  Civil  War  of  1861-5 
still  further  aggravated  the  difficulty.  Specie  was  withdrawn-  from 
circulation.  The  land  was  flooded  with  irredeemable  paper  money. 
Prices  of  all  commodities  were  greatly  enhanced.  The  purchasing 
power  of  a  fixed  salary  was  reduced  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  per 
cent.  The  Professorships,  originally  rated  at  §25,000,  had  never 
yielded  enough  to  pay  the  salaries  of  the  incumbents.  As  prices 
advanced,  the  income  proved  but  little  more  than  enough  to  pay  the 
rent  of  a  respectable  dwelling-house. 

It  became  necessary,  therefore,  to  make  another  appeal,  for 
$150,000,  for  endowment  and  scholarships.  The  Kev.  Edwin"  F. 
Hatfield,  D.D.,  was  appointed  Financial  Agent.  The  churches 
generously  responded  to  the  appeal,  and  the  sum  was  secured  in 
1865.  The  inadequacy  of  the  original  accommodations  for  the  Semi- 
nary, and  the  need  of  a  fire-proof  building  for  the  Library,  had  long 
been  apparent.  A  whole  generation  had  passed,  and  a  new  city, 
vastly  more  substantial  and  elegant,  had  grown  up  above  Tenth 
street.  The  churches  had  mostly  migrated  with  the  advancing 
population.  The  old  city  was  fast  becoming  simply  a  mart  of  trade 
and  commerce.  It  was  judged  expedient  to  secure  a  more  eligible 
site  for  the  Seminary,  and  to  erect  thereon  more  commodious  and 
suitable  buildings.  The  old  feuds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  had 
died  out,  and  the  dissevered  parts  were  soon  to  be  reunited.  The 
times  were  favorable — never  more  so.  Early  in  18T0  an  appeal 
was,  therefore,  made,  through  the  same  agency,  for  a  subscription 
of  $300,000.  The  appeal  was,  in  the  course  of  the  following  year, 
sustained.  Grround  was  secured,  but,  owing  to  the  changed  aspect 
of  the  times,  has  not  yet  been  occupied. 

The  Chair  of  Biblical  Literature,  by  the  lamented  decease,  in 
1863,  of  that  eminent  scholar,  of  world-wide  fame,  Prof.  Edward 
PoBiNsoN,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  made  vacant.  Prof.  William  Gr.  T. 
Shedd,  D.D.,  then  the  pastor  of  the  Brick  Church  of  this  city,  was 
induced  to  accept  the  position.  Prof.  Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  was 
added  to  the  Faculty  in  1870,  and  the  revered  and  greatly-beloved 
Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  taken  to  his  rest  and  reward 
early  in  1871.  Subsequently,  in  1873,  the  Rev.  William  Adams, 
D.D.,'^  and  Pev.  George  L.  Prentiss,  D.D.,  were  added  to  the 

*  Tiie  office  of  President  of  tlie  Institution,  without  an  incumbent  for  thirty- 
years,  was  now  filled  by  the  appointment  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Adams  to  the  responsible 
post.  ^ 


22  EARLY  ANNALS, 

corps  of  Professors.  The  following  year,  by  reason  of  tlie  j)i*o- 
longed  illness  of  Prof.  Smith,  Dr.  Shedd  was  transferred  to  the 
Chair  of  Theology ;  and  Dr.  Schaff  to  the  Chair  of  Sacred  Litera- 
ture. The  Rev.  Charles  A.  Briggs  was  made  Provisional  Professor 
of  Hebrew  and  the  Cognate  Languages.  The  original  corps  of  instruc- 
tion was  thus  extended  from  three  to  seven  Professors ;  and,  to 
crown  the  w^hole,  the  most  ample  provision  was  made  for  their 
support  by  the  princely  gift,  on  the  part  of  Mr.  James  Brown,  of 
this  city,  of  three  liundred  thousand  dollars^ —  the  endowment  of  each 
of  the  six  regular  Professorships  being  thus  extended  from  $25,000 
to  $80,000.  To  furnish  proper  accommodations  for  the  overflow  of 
students,  two  of  the  four  houses  originally  owned  by  the  Seminary,  and 
sold,  have  been  repurchased,  together  with  a  third  house  on  the  comer 
of  Clinton  Place.  The  latter  building  has  been  connected  with  one 
of  the  former  by  an  additional  edifice,  erected  last  summer.  The 
Seminary  building,  at  the  same  time,  was  rendered  much  more  com- 
modious and  attractive  by  a  large  addition  on  its  northern  side,  and 
by  a  refurnishing  of  the  chapel  and  students'  rooms ;  providing  thus 
much  larger  space,  also,  for  the  Library,  which  has  grown  to  more 
than  33,000  volumes.  The  new  building  and  the  repairs  of  the 
Seminary  have  involved  an  expenditure  of  about  $45,000,  seven 
ninths  of  which  sum  have  been  furnished  for  the  purpose  by  the 
munificence  of  a  noble  friend*  of  the  Institution. 

The  last  Catalogue  shows  a  total  of  students,  for  the  year  now 
ending,  of  142,  the  largest  number  reported  for  any  one  year,  save 
in  1859-60,  w^hen,  owing  to  the  great  revival  of  the  previous  year, 
the  number  reached  146.  In  this  respect  Union  Seminaiy  now 
ranks  every  other  in  the  land.  By  the  grace  of  God,  it  has,  through 
much  and  severe  tribulation,  attained  to  a  position  of  influence  ex- 
celled by  none  other.  During  the  forty  years  of  its  operations,  it 
has  sent  forth  1778  students,  of  whom  1070  have  graduated  here. 
Of  the  whole  number,  about  267  have  finished  their  course,  and 
entered  the  rest  prepared  for  the  people  of  God.  With  few  excep- 
tions, the  remaining  1511  are  doing  yeoman  service  in  the  Master's 
vineyard.  They  are  found  in  every  section,  in  nearly  every  State, 
of  the  Unian.  They  are  occupying  influential  pulpits  in  our  largest 
towns  and  cities.  In  all  the  newer  States,  and  in  the  outlying  hamlets 
of  the  older  States,  they  are  laboring,  with  apostolic  zeal,  to  "  build  the 

*  Mr,  Frederick  Marquand,  of  the  city  of  New-York. 


EARLY   ANN-ALS.  23 

old  waste  places  "  and  "  raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  genera- 
tions." Thej  are  found  in  our  academies,  colleges,  and  semi- 
naries, forming  tlie  minds  and  cultivating  the  hearts  of  the  rising 
generation.  On  every  continent  and  ocean  group  of  islands  they 
are  toiling  to  raise  the  heathen  from  their  degradation  and  corrup- 
tion, and  train  them  for  God  and  glory.  Union  Seminary  is  a 
mighty  poAver  in  the  world — a  grand  instrumentality  for  building  up 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  among  men. 

It  was  not  in  vain  that  its  founders  toiled  and  prayed,  and  gave, 
in  many  instances  most  liberally,  of  their  substance,  to  build  up  an 
institution  that  should  "  connnend  itself  to  all  men  of  moderate 
views  and  feelings,  who  desire  to  live  free  from  party  strife,  and  to 
stand  aloof  from  all  extremes  of  doctrine  or  of  practice,"  in  tJie  at- 
tempt to  raise  up  a  learned  and  godly  ministry  for  the  Church.  All 
honor  to  such  men  as  Hichakd  T.  Haines,  for  nearly  thirty  years 
the  efficient  and  generous  President  of  the  Board,  and  William  M. 
Halsted  and  Anthony  P.  IIalsey,  the  two  deceased  Treasurers. 
They  are  to  be  held  in  lasting  remembrance  for  their  untiring  and 
unswerving  devotion  to  the  work  of  building  up  this  dearly- 
cherished  institution.  Among  those  w^ho  have  sei'ved  as  members 
of  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  who  have  iinished  their  course  on 
earth,  grateful  mention  should  be  made,  also,  of  Messrs.  Caleb  O. 
Halsted,  Abijaii  Fisiiek,  Fisher  Howe,  Anson  G.  Phelps  (father 
and  son),  James  Bookman,  David  Hoadley,  and  that  princely  giver, 
John  C.  Baldw^in.  Their  record  is  on  high,  and  w^e,  to-day,  are 
reaping  the  fruits  of  their  labors. 

The  friends  and  patrons  of  Union  Seminary  have  been  found  in 
the  most  of  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  the  city  ;  but  it  is  due  to 
historic  justice  to  recall  the  fact,  that  it  is  owing  to  the  large-hearted 
sympathies  and  noble  benefactions,  chiefly,  of  the  late  "  Mercer- 
street  Church,"  and  its  offspring,  the  "  Church  of  the  Covenant," 
together  wdth  the  "  Madison-square  Church,"  that  this  beloved 
Seminary  has  been  sustained  these  forty  years,  and  elevated  to  its 
present  commanding  position  among  the  agencies  of  the  Church.* 
To  their  honor,  and  to  the  glory  of  the  Master,  be  it  said,  they 
have  never  faltered  in  their  love  and  devotion  to  this  work.  Neither 
they  nor  their  beloved  ]3astors  ever  failed  to  respond  promptly, 
heartily,  and  nobly  to  the  numerous  appeals  of  the  Board  for  help  in 

*  Appendix  B. 


24  EARLY   ANNALS. 

time  of  need.  But  for  them,  tlie  enterprise  must  long  since  have 
been  abandoned.  They  may  well  rejoice,  to-day,  in  what  their  own 
hands  have  wrought. 

In  conclusion,  before  all  and  above  all,  we  render  most  hearty 
and  devout  thanks  to  the  God  of  Israel,  the  God  and .  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  through  all  these  forty  years  of  peril  and 
perplexity,  of  sowing  and  reaping,  of  sadness  and  joy,  has  been  with 
us,  and  made  the  work  of  our  hands  to  prosper.  "  N^ow  unto  the 
King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the  only  wise  God,  be  honor  and 
glory  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 


APPENDIX. 

— •— ♦—• 

A. 
ACT    OF    INOOEPOEATIOE". 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  the  City  of  New  Torh. 
—Passed  March  27th,  1839. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly, 
do  enact  as  follows  : 

§  1,  Thomas  McAuley,  Henry  White,  Samuel  H.  Cox,  Thomas  H.  Skinner, 
William  Patton,  Erskinc  Mason,  Ichabod  S.  Spencer,  Absalom  Peters,  William 
Adams,  Nathanael  E.  Johnson,  Henry  A.  Kowland,  David  Magie,  Ansel  D. 
Eddy,  Selah  B.  Treat,  Zechariah  Lewis,  Micah  Baldwin,  Charles  Butler,  Leo- 
nard Corning,  Abijah  Fisher,  William  M.  Halsted,  Caleb  O.  Halsted,  Fisher 
Howe,  Richard  T.  Haines,  Joseph  Otis,  Anson  G.  Phelps,  Pelatiah  Perit,  Cor- 
nelius Baker,  and  Knowles  Taylor,  and  their  associates,  who  are  the  present 
Directors,  and  their  successors,  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  corporate  by  the 
name  of  "  The  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  the  City  of  New- York  ;"  and 
by  that  name  shall  have  succession,  and  be  capable  in  law  of  taking  and  hold- 
ing by  gift,  grant  and  devise,  or  otherwise,  and  of  purchasing  and  holding 
and  conveying,  both  in  law  and  equity,  any  estate,  real  or  personal;  provided 
that  the  clear  annual  value  or  income  of  their  real  estate  should  not  exceed 
the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  ;  and  their  personal  estate  shall  not  exceed 
the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,*  exclusive  of  such  Professorships  as  may 
be  from  time  to  time  endowed. 

§  2.  The  government  of  the  Seminary  shall  at  all  times  be  vested  in  a  Board 
of  Directors,  which  shall  consist  of  twenty-eight  members  ;t  one  half  of  whom 
shall  be  clergymen,  and  the  other  half  laymen. 

*  By  act  of  the  Legislature,  May  11,  1874,  increased  to  "  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  exclusive  of  the  Library,  and  of  such  Professorships,  Scholarships,  and 
Lectureships,  or  other  offices  connected  with  the  Educational  Department  of  the 
Seminary  as  are  now  or  may  hereafter  he,  from  time  to  time,  endowed." 

f  By  Act  of  the  Legislature,  April  1,  1870,  this  was  altered,  so  as  to  read— "wo^ 
less  than  twenty-eight  members." 


20  A"PPENDIX. 

§  3.  The'  Board  of  Directors  already  chosen  shall  be  divided  into  four 
classes,  to  be  numbered  one,  two,  three  and  four ;  the  term  of  the  first  class 
shall  expire  in  one,  the  second  in  two,  the  third  in  three,  and  tlie  fourth  in 
four  years  from  the  eighteenth  of  January  last.  The  following  persons  shall 
be  Directors  of  the  first  class:  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  William  Adams,  Samuel 
H.  Cox,  Selah  B.  Treat,  Abijah  Fisher,  Joseph  Otis,  Caleb  O.  Halsted,  and 
Leonard  Corning.  Of  the  second  class:  William  Batton,  Ichabod  S.  Spen- 
cer, Henry  White,  David  Magie,  Pelatiah  Perit,  Charles  Butler,  and  Micah 
Baldwin.  Of  the  third  class  :  Henry  A.  Rowland,  Absalom  Peters,  Nathanael 
E.  Johnson,  Fisher  Howe,  Richard  T.  Haines,  William  M.  Halsted,  and  Anson 
Gr.  Phelps.  Of  the  fourth  class :  Thomas  McAuley,  Ansel  D.  Eddy,  Erskine 
Mason,  Zechariah  Lewis,  Knowles  Taylor,  and  Cornelius  Baker.  Each  class 
of  Directors  shall  hereafter  be  chosen  for,  and  hold  their  offices  during,  four 
years,  and  until  a  new  election  to  supply  the  places  of  such  class. 

§  4.  The  members  of  any  class  of  Directors  may  be  eligible  to  a  re-election  ; 
and  each  election  shall  take  place  at  least  one  week  previous  to  the  expiration 
of  the  term  of  office  of  the  class  to  be  supplied.  And  the  said  Directors  shall 
have  power  to  fill  all  vacancies  In  their  own  Board,  which  may  happen  from 
year  to  year ;  and  the  appointment  to  fill  such  vacancy  shall  be  valid  for  the 
unexpired  term  of  the  Director  whose  office  shall  be  vacant. 

§  5.  Equal  privileges  of  admission  and  instruction,  Tvith  all  the  advantages 
of  the  Institution,  shall  be  allowed  to  students  of  every  denomination  of 
Christians. 

§  6.  The  Legislature  may  at  any  time  alter  or  repeal  this  act. 


B. 

It  appears  from  these  Annals,  that  this  Seminary  was  "  founded  before  the 
disruption  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  that  it  "  belonged  exclusively  to 
neither  of  its  branches,"  and  was  "  administered  upon  its  own  independent 
charter."  On  the  occasion  of  the  union  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Church, 
the  Board  of  Directors  memorialized  the  General  Assembly  of  1870  "to  the 
following  effect — namely  :  That  the  General  Assembly  may  be  pleased  to  adopt 
it  as  a  rule  and  plan,  in  the  exercise  of  the  proprietorship  and  control  over  the 
several  Theological  Seminaries,  that,  so  far  as  the  election  of  Professors  is  con- 
cerned, the  Assembly  wdll  commit  the  same  to  their  respective  Boards  of  Di- 
rectors, on  the  following  terms  and  conditions  : 

"  Firsts  That  the  Board  of  Directors  of  each  Theological  Seminary  shall  be 
authorized  to  appoint  all  Professors  for  the  same. 

''Second^  That  all  such  appointments  shall  be  reported  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  no  such  appointment  of  Professor  shall  be  considered  as  a  com- 
plete election,  if  disapproved  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  Assembly." 


APPENDIX.  27 

The  Directors  further  declared,  "if  the  said  plan  shall  be  adopted  by  the 
General  Assembly,  that  they  will  agree  to  conform  to  the  same,  the  Union 
Seminary  in  New- York  being,  in  this  respect,  on  the  same  ground  with  other 
Theological  Seminaries  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

The  plan  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  June  1,  1870,  and  Union  Seminary 
was  thus  brought  into  ecclesiastical  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
on  the  same  footing  as  that  of  the  other  Seminaries  of  the  Church. 

The  utmost  care,  however,  had  been  taken,  from  the  first,  to  provide  for 
such  instruction,  and  such  only,  in  the  Seminary,  as  would  command  the  ap- 
probation and  confidence  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America.     It  was  made  an  irrevocable  part  of  the  Constitution,  that 

"  Every  Director,  on  entering  upon  his  ofiSce  and  also  after  each  re-election, 
shall  make  the  following  declaration  in  the  presence  of  the  Board,  namely : 

"  'Approving of  the  j)lan  and  Constitution  of  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary in  the  City  of  New- York,  and  of  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith, 
and  the  Presbyterian  Form  of  Church  Government,  I  do  solemnly  promise  to 
maintain  the  same,  so  long  as  I  shall  continue  to  be  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Directors.'  " 

The  following  rules  were,  also,  in  like  manner,  adopted  in  reference  to  the 
Professors  : 

"Every  member  of  the  Faculty  shall,  on  entering  upon  his  office,  and  tri- 
ennially  thereafter,  or  when  required  by  the  Board,  so  long  as  he  remains  in 
office,  make  and  subscribe  the  following  declaration  in  the  presence  of  the 
Board — namely  : 

"  '  I  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  Kew  Testament  to  be  the  Word 
of  God,  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  and  I  do  now,  in  the 
presence  of  God  and  the  Directors  of  this  Seminary,  solemnly  and  sincerely 
receive  anct  adopt  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  as  containing  the 
system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  I  do  also,  in  like  manner, 
approve  of  the  Presbyterian  Form  of  Government ;  and  I  do  solemnly  pro- 
mise, that  I  will  not  teach  or  inculcate  any  thing  M'hich  shall  appear  to  me  to 
be  subversive  of  the  said  system  of  doctrine,  or  of  the  principles  of  said 
Form  of  Government,  so  long  as  I  shall  continue  to  be  a  Professor  in  the  Sem- 
inary.' 

"  If  any  Professor  shall  refuse,  at  the  stated  time,  or  when  required  by  the 
Board,  to  repeat  the  above  declaration,  he  shall  forthwith  cease  to  be  a  Profes- 
sor in  the  Institution." 

No  amendments  can  be  made  to  the  Constitution  that  are  "inconsistent 
with  the  doctrinal  basis  contained  in"  these  declarations. 


iC I 03403 


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